What you see above is a temporary logo for Transformers 4 (look closely and you should see the number 4 they added to the title), which will apparently feature all new robots. Want to know why? Because not enough kiddies went out and bought toys from the last film. So…. Gotta give ’em new options, which means new robots. Awwww, don’t you just love it when toy sales determine the plot points featured in new films? I know George Lucas would be proud. The film is set to hit theaters on June 27, 2014. [TFW2005 via [Bleeding Cool]
Christian Slater has joined the cast of Lars von Trier‘s Nymphomaniac of which Stellan Skarsgaard also stars and recently told Moviezine, “I’d probably be able to show it to my children. The [sexuality] is not a problem. I have more problems [with] my children watching violence than if they watch porn. But clearly there is a difference, even if all Trier’s films have huge childlike qualities. He writes almost fairy form, he is a kind of [film’s] Hans Christian Andersen. It will be fun, I start filming in October.” [Variety]
Although Guillermo del Toro told Collider earlier this year he didn’t want to make his latest film, Pacific Rim, in 3D due to the size of the elements, which monsters and buildings, in the film, Warner Bros. is stepping in with a 3D conversion regardless of del Toro’s wishes. The film hits 2D and 3D theaters on July 12, 2013. [Variety]
The Weinstein Co. has pushed Andrew Dominik‘s Killing Them Softly (read my Cannes rave here) yet again now pushing it from October 19 to November 30 where it will be the lone wide release. Harvey Weinstein was quoted saying, “In this industry it is a very rare event to look at a weekend where your movie could open as the only wide release picture. November 30th will allow us to bring Killing Them Softly to a wide audience without competition. Additionally, the critical response to the movie has been very favorable especially on the amazing performances and November 30th positions us better in the Awards season calendar.” [Deadline]
In other release date news, Summit has set a March 21, 2014 release for Divergent with Neil Burger circling the film as director. Along with the announcement came the following synopsis for the film based on Veronica Roth’s novel:
Divergent is a thrilling adventure centered around the monumental choice of deciding who you are and discovering who you can be. Set in a future where America is divided into five ideological factions to stabilize society and uphold peace, every citizen must choose a permanent faction at age 16 – either their own or another. Struggling to survive her initiation into the most aggressive and physically demanding of the factions, Beatrice Prior must uncover her true hidden strengths and risk her family, her new found love, and her very own life to defuse a mysterious conspiracy which could change the balance of power forever.
James Cameron is talking about Avatar 2 and 3 quite a bit lately, this time telling the Los Angeles Times, “I’m writing it as separate stories that have an overall arc inclusive of the first film. I don’t want to suffer from the Matrix 2 problem, where it just ends, like, what the hell? It’s gotta end. There’s gotta be a sense of conclusion, but also a sense that the journey will continue, and that’s a fine line.” [Los Angeles Times]
Cameron continued the Avatar sequel discussion with Superhero Hype discussing the film’s underwater setting, but also adding it “won’t take place completely in or under the water, That’s just part of the environment of Pandora that we’re going to see.” Audiences that were upset with the first film’s environmental lesson may want to skip over reading this next part as it sounds like it’s going to get even more heavy-handed:
[It’s] gonna have less to do with the deep exploration that I’ve done than it has to do with my concerns about conservation of Earth’s oceans. The fact that we’re basically overfishing, climate change… a few degrees of temperature rise are gonna basically take out the coral reefs. All those beautiful images of the coral environments we all grew up with won’t exist in 50 years at the rate we’re going in terms of pumping greenhouse gases into the environment. These are the things that concern me.
They concern him so they will concern you now! While I totally appreciate his efforts, hopefully he’ll dial it back a little bit with the hammering home of the metaphor. I really liked the first film, but don’t begrudge anyone that just wanted to yell at the screen, “We get it! Save the trees! Don’t destroy the ecosystem! AHHHHHHH!” [Superhero Hype]
Finally, you didn’t really think there would be an extended cut of The Dark Knight Rises on Blu-ray did you? Well, if you held on to that fantasy to this point you can let it float away as The Playlist has learned an extended cut doesn’t exist nor will it ever. Still no word on when it will actually hit DVD and Blu-ray shelves. [The Playlist]
